Mishka Designs

A few belated shout-outs to some awesome brides! First we have a big congratulations to give to Colleen who tied the knot this past 4th of July at the popular Dreams Riviera Cancun! She chose a beautiful green color for her base and Yazmine did a great job . (based on white flowers) Shout-out to Sara who said her "i dos" this July 21st in Dreams Tulum. We don't get many orders for this maraca but I love the way it turned out and I like the feel of them. (based on faces) Congratulations to Marlene who tied the knot this past September 3rd in Playa Carmen. I think her maracas just say "beach beach beach" and "fun" all at the same time . (based on palm trees) Felicidades to Jenna who tied the knot this September 3rd at the Excellence Playa Mujeres. I heart heart these maracas, which were custom designed based off a graphic she liked (pictured below) and painted by Antonio. If these don't end-up getting ordered again I would be highly surprised . (custom design) I meant to do all sorts of fun design blogs this summer but I was way busier than I thought I would be. I'm still going to try to do something so don't give up on me yet .

Okay, here it is - the one I've been putting off because that means that the 2010/2011 wedding season is officially over . I'm super fortunate to get some awesome shots from Nate Broshot for this blog - he has such amazing energy when he shoots for a wedding and I think it shows in his work! I have never met a couple as concerned about their vendors as Shannon & Derek - while Shannon knew exactly what she wanted, she never made me or any of the other vendors feel as though she didn't trust us completely and, most amazingly, they were both honestly concerned that everyone working at their wedding had absolutely everything they needed to do the best job possible. This wedding was pure joy to work on from start to finish... Villa: Casa Serena Caterer: NAEF Bride Photographer: Nate Broshot (License to Still) Videographer: Eduardo Caldarelli DJ: DJ Mannia INSPIRATION BOARD Shannon had given me a very detailed design board and notes of her own about what she really wanted -- something natural, chic and that would infuse her Thai heritage along with a few Mexican touches. THE CEREMONY We really wanted to put the focus on a beautiful big tree that the villa had in their garden. So, we decided to not decorate it with anything . The bride's bouquet was a mix of green cybidium orchids with beautiful dark purple calla lillies. I loved it because it was so different yet fit the wedding perfectly. Down the aisle we had large glass square bowls with floating white cybidium orchids. There was a grill in the garden and we covered the grill with wood and placed various frames Shannon had brought from the states, along with pictures of the couple of their guests - these were favors. Also interspersed through-out were beautiful wooden elephants. We also provided hand-squeezed lemonade which took front and center . We had cones with paper that I hand-made (as we don't have access to specialty papers down here filled with rose petals for the guests to throw at the recessional. I didn't have anything to do with their vows, but they were absolutely beautiful - they took a moment and addressed each of their guests during the ceremony - I've never seen anything like it but it was truly heart felt and amazing . If you want to see for yourselves, this is the video Eduardo put together for them . THE COCKTAIL After the ceremony, the guests followed the cocktail sign down pool side where we had cocktail tables set-up underneath big umbrellas with signs on each which represented a movie that meant a lot to the couple. On the way down there was a table set-up with a "love" poster for the guests to sign. Poolside, there was also a tequila tasting table with tequila the bride and groom had chosen themselves . In the pool were floating wooden lanterns cut-out with elephants and orchids. THE VIDEOBOOTH On the way back up the stairs, we had floating candles on the stairway and half-way up was a little video/photo booth station for guests to stop and record a video message for the bride and groom, or take photos . I loved this little area - it was very intimate and colorful . THE RECEPTION We had one big long table down underneath the columns in the villa. We had chosen a sand colored tablecloth with banana leaves going down the center and centerpieces of orchids and fresh cut limes and purple hydrangae in glass vases interspersed with candles and a beautiful dusty gray flower candle which I actually found by accident but heart heart just the same . I also placed a few starfish to bring in a bit of natural "peach" tone to the table. Shannon had provided these beautiful green woven grass boxes which each held a wooden elephant as a favor for her guests. The placecards were various special Mexican recipes, as our bride and groom love to cook (and eat . THE DESSERT BAR Shannon & Derek wanted desserts instead of cake so I thought it would be fun to make stands to look a bit like a multi-level cake with the desserts placed around it. I heart heart this area. THE DANCE FLOOR Right next to the reception area, was the dance floor - beautiful, multi-colored Chinese lanterns in the bride's colors of woven green, dusty gray purple, white and peach. Scattered around the lanterns were also light weight colorful shells to give the floor a little bit of whimsy. THE LOUNGE As the guests were down below during the cocktail, we flipped the ceremony area into a lounge area. Special fabric tops were made for the white lounge furniture in order to give it a bit more of a chic, contemporary feel and we scattered the area with candles. This wedding was a beautiful way to end our 2010/2011 Wedding Season ... a warm and caring couple, amazing guests, detailed design, wonderful food, great vendors ... in one word: Awesome! A few more maraca shout-outs are coming-up AND I'm going to do a few design inspiration blogs this summer, seeing as things are pretty calm ... so stay tuned . And, to all of who made our 2010/2011 season so beautiful and amazing and heart-warming, I think Derek & Shannon said it best....

Hey girls - just wanted you to know that first rain in Vallarta happened early this morning - keeping up with my tradition of always letting you know . Let's see if it continues or if it was a fluke before the rainy season and we still have some dry days - will keep you posted .

Well, I kept hoping I would be able to get some real pictures of this project, which we sent to Cancun but I know photographers can take a while to edit and didn't want to end the season without a shout-out to Cathy whose son tied the knot with his bride this past March . Cathy was quite persuasive and I loved her ideas, so we agreed to do a "design in a box" for the rehearsal dinner which she hosted at the Grand Velas in the Riviera Maya. I heart the invite, which was designed by Flights of Fancy. And I heart the design of this event and can't wait to ramp it up a bit and actually do a whole wedding based on it . The Cocktail We sent cocktail overlays of "yute" - a fabric similar to burlap but a lot softer, as well as wide turquoise ribbon to tie around, along with silver tin stars which we recommended she tie the escort cards to (the photo is an example and recommended that they be placed in middle of the cocktail tables as centerpieces. We also recommended scattering yellow mum heads around the stars to complete the look . The Reception I found this picture, I think at the Knot, of a cigar box with this beautiful floral display. So, that was the inspiration photo . We sent her the cigar boxes and we used the tops of the cigar boxes as the table markers. Table overlays were also sent and they were for the table runners which was also yute. Included in the "package" were glass vases and candles wrapped with yute and saffron colored napkins, as well as tall, skinny Moroccan lanterns, complete with candles . We also sent along some "bride" and "groom" signs as well as a beautiful lasso to hang on the two chairs - I took a photo of it but it didn't turn out well . We also had little gift bags for the kids filled with goodies and an awesome donkey pinata which my daughter fell in love with and I think would have kept if she'd had an option . We also sent hand-painted maracas for the guys, special painted maracas for the kids (pictured up above) and fans for the girls. I'm including a photo of my favorite fan but the sandalwood fans were the ones actually requested . It was a super fun project, although admittedly difficult to not be able to control the execution of the design as I love for everything to be perfect . We can't wait to see the final photos and thank Cathy for challenging us with this fun opportunity!

You might try writing Dreams PV and let them know you are unhappy with the turnover - I can't say that it will help - but it might. The biggest problem is you over-work your staff and pay them very little - giving very little incentive to stay.

It may have been to tip the waiters - I'm pretty sure that isn't included in any fee .

The clubs are still open but the other side of the street is a disaster . the clubs might be a bit more inexpensive due to the lack of traffic on the main street scaring people away - so could be a good thing, if one looks at it that way ;).

hi girls . Their plan is to have it finished before our Independence Day which is September 16th. It's probably the date where downtown is the most full, so I think, as long as the rains aren't unusually heavy this year, they should be able to finish it by then. At least, as far as the Malecon (the boardwalk) is concerned ... there are other projects going on around town but I don't think those projects really affect ya'all too much :).

I just wanted to forewarn you all that in the past couple of days Vallarta has started a ton of construction projects. The one that will probably affect you most of all is the one right smack downtown as they are working on our beautiful boardwalk (not so pretty right now and not much walking going to happen for a while on it). Anyway, there was no way to foresee this - in fact, the night before they tore our malecon up we had just driven downtown to look at a few traffic light changes and you couldn't tell that in just a few hours destruction would be in progress - this is how they do a lot of construction projects down here to try to avoid protests and things. I don't want to scare you, but did think that you should know before you get here and are gobsmacked by it :).

Kris & Luke had a small, intimate affair at the beautiful Casa Guillermo this past May 4th. Hailing from Australia, you would think the planning would have been difficult but it wasn't at all and Kris was a sweetheart from start to finish . Kris had oodles of inspiration photos and her own little blog of ideas and it didn't take me long to figure out what we needed to do and I was so very excited... Villa: Casa Guillermo Staff Photographer: Soko Catering: Casa Guillermo INSPIRATION BOARD Key words that Kris mentioned over and over were "vintage", "beach", "romance", "vintage valentine's", "vintage posters." Heart all those words! THE CEREMONY I know I say this all the time but I can't help it - I love weddings and flowers and all things Vallarta brides - okay, so, with that said, I heart heart this white/cream peony bouquet. I added-in a touch of scabiosa and dusty miller and, seriously, hearts! For the groom, I again choose some scabiosa, a small purple peony head and a tad of dusty miller. The other bouts and posie bouquets all had similar touches with a tad of white hydrange. The bridesmaid's bouquets were white hydrangae and sterling silver roses and we sewed some of the beautiful beaded fabric we used for the napkins (which you will see later on) to their wraps. Kris had sent me a really amazing, romantic picture of a couple sitting on pillows on the beach and I knew this had to be our ceremony set-up. I was over the moon happy when I presented the idea and Kris was like "oh yes, let's do it" because I knew it was a tad avant garde and not for everyone . We painted the chuppah a white-washed white and decorated the front with purple hydrangae. Purple peonies and dusty miller lined the ceremony aisle in hanging glass jars. We also had hand-cut papel picado inspired fans (based off the bride's invite) waiting in a basket by the stairs. And a pretty foot washing station, complete with rose scented water. CUTENESS ALERT! I couldn't resist putting in these two pictures of the cute ring bearers and little flower girl - they were awesome! THE COCKTAIL/DANCE AREA The cocktail area was decorated with silver crystal chandeliers, flowing purple chiffon fabric and the cocktail tables themselves draped with cream chiffon and my sister-in-law, Jazmine, took my idea a bit further and sewed purple embroidered embellishments to the top. Floating purple peonies made-up the tables. Kris' mom had brought us some vintage little valentine's from the States. I thought it would be sweet to make escort cards out of them, so, we cut them up a bit and created some very vintage looking large valentines which we hung on ribbon with each person's name on them and the name of their table on the back. We were also given some vintage photographs of the family which we also created into our own version of vintage Valentines and hung between the escort cards. Here in Vallarta we don't have access to all the cool scrapbooking paper and tools you have up north. So, I had to create my own paper and I love how this project turned out . After dinner, we moved the tables and opened the space up for some fun dancing! THE RECEPTION Lanterns dotted the pool, the pattern, again, cut in a similar pattern to their invite. Kris' mom also brought us these amazing travel posters and, since they had sent the measurements ahead of time, we knew how to mount them . I draped the tables with a light blue chiffon and my other sister-in-law, Gaby, sewed the embroidered fabric to wrap around the candles in hues of green, cream and purple. The napkins were a soft cream and wrapped with a beautiful beaded purple strip of fabric. Floating white peonies were interspersed between the candles. Place cards were hand-punched to resemble doilies to complete the vintage feel. I did the kid's table a bit different. We had bags waiting for them on each chair with their name on it with coloring books, crayons, a Mexican toy, some fun party string and Luke's parents brought the kids a few toys and mementos as well from their native Australia . We also placed a fun, balloon inspired centerpiece to the kid's table to make it a little less "adult" and a bit more kid friendly . The maracas were brought-out during the dancing - sunsets seemed to be fairly important to my bride and groom so we decided to do something that would represent Vallarta with a sunset painted behind one of our most famous historic landmarks - the church of the Virgin de Guadalupe . Omar pulled out all the stops on this design! THE CAKE...and ICE-CREAM Memo, of course, never ceases to amaze with this beautiful rendition of the bride and groom's favorite cake design. Unfortunately, we don't have a picture but, as the cake was being cut, we also had a hand-pushed ice-cream cart come out with yummy cold Mexican paletas (ice-cream bars) in flavors ranging from strawberry to coffee to lemon and beyond.... I loved every notion about this wedding and the intimacy of it only made everything that much more endearing. Absolutely amazed that Kris was doing her finals while we were planning the last details of the wedding and was such a complete sweetheart through-out - that is multi-tasking at its finest . Coming-up we have Rose & Miguel's wedding blog and a few more maraca shout-outs, so stay tuned .

Man, where do I start? Kim & Lanny were one of those couples who just oozed love from the moment I met them - not the gooey kind of love , but more a steady, easy, here we are kindof love. They met in high school and had been together ever since, so maybe that was part of it. They tied the knot this past April 12th in Dreams PV and this is what it looked like... INSPIRATION BOARD They really wanted to incorporate being married by the ocean and an acknowledgment of their native ancestry into the wedding - it was a lot of fun to go back to some beachy roots - although we live in a very popular wedding area by the beach, we don't often do a lot of weddings which incorporate beach elements . THE CEREMONY I had a lot of fun with this ceremony. I decided to do her bouquet out of green hydrangae, circus roses and orange tulips with a beautiful turquoise necklace as an accent piece for the wrap. The groom's bout were little tulips. I wanted the orange colors to really pop, so I decided to go for a more natural palette so that the strung roses on the chairs would stand out more and the chuppah with flowing sand, champagne and white chiffon fabric. We incorporated a seashell blessing ceremony into the ceremony itself, and the guests were invited to choose a seashell, to bless the couple with their well wishes and then they all went down to the ocean and threw their shells back. Since we had decided to incorporate the elements (wind, air, fire, water and we added "alma" or "soul" as a 5th element) to the entire wedding, Antonio designed these amazing hand-crafted wooden fans with Aztec and Mayan symbols representing the elements drawn on them on one side and the word "love" on the other. THE RECEPTION They had decided to skip the cocktail, so guests went back to their rooms for a little break, while the bride and groom continued to take pictures with their photographer. For the reception, I wanted the color to be vibrant and completely in tune with the natural beach surroundings. So, we had turquoise chiffon overlays and apothecary glass jars (which I actually brought down in a suitcase from the states!) filled with orange tulips, sand and a white pillar candle and seashells and floating circus roses. We surrounded the reception area with tall bamboo poles and hanging lanterns with candles! The escort cards were polished rocks with each guest name and table seating painted on and table markers were large rocks placed in the middle of the table with the names painted on for each of the elements. Maracas also were painted with the elemental symbols in the bride's wedding colors of orange, sand and turquoise. Napkins were a natural sand manta and place cards had a photo of the bride and groom on one side and a fun pictionary game (the bride and groom's favorite game!) on the other side, based on the bride and groom . Each table also had paper and pencils so they could play the game during the reception, if they wanted . The bride and groom provided turquoise jelly bellies as a sweet favor which we placed on each chair. THE DANCE FLOOR I wanted something simple but that would really look beautiful at night. I told the boys I wanted a lantern with three poles overhanging and beautiful large Chinese lanterns. I loved it! One of my absolute favorite things happened this night ... we had swapped out the bride's IPOD for our own to play "Great Balls of Fire" and I thought the song that would follow was of a similar nature so I told the boys to keep the IPOD running. But to my surprise the William Tell Overture came on - but the bride's guests, already in a circle on the dance floor, did not miss a beat and started galloping across the dance floor - each person from an opposite side galloping to meet each other in the middle and end-up on the other side. It was one of the funniest, funnest most spontaneous things I've ever seen at a wedding and looked completely choreographed - which I knew it wasn't . I thought they would get tired half-way through but they danced the entire song - it was awesome! THE CAKE/REMEMBRANCE TABLE Both the bride and groom had people very close to them pass away and they wanted their presence at the wedding. So we put their photos on the cake table with a remembrance candle for each one with the cake in the middle. The cake was, of course, from Memo and he did an amazing job of combining one of the bride's favorite design cakes with the elemental symbols we had been using through-out the event. Gorgeous! The bride, groom and all their guests were so amazingly kind, generous and sweet - it was a true honor to be part of their beautiful day! Coming up Kris & Luke's wedding blog, followed closely by Rose & Miguel!

Quick shout-outs before posting Kim & Lanny's wedding blog . Congratulations to Emily who said her I Dos at the Barcelo this May 4th. Emily also ordered the same place cards we did for Ghadeer's wedding - match set . custom design Happy Birthday is in order for Maya & Olivia who turned 3 this past 5 de Mayo - sooo beautiful - the maracas and the girls . Their design was based on this plate .... custom design Congratulations to Jenny who married her love this past May 6th in our very own Puerto Vallarta. palm trees Shout-out to Ursula who said "yes" this May 7th at the very famous Dreams Riviera Cancun. heidi Shout-out to Janelle who tied the knot this May 9th at the Dreams Puerto Aventuras Resort & Spa in Cancun. Her colors were very pretty and very reminiscient of the Ocean . palm trees Congratulations to Winter who got married this May 10th - also in the famous Dreams Riviera Cancun. She sent us a talavera pot and we based her custom design from that - I love the final product that Israel painted for her . custom design Coming-up we Kim & Lanny's, Kris & Luke's & Rose & Miguel's wedding blogs and some more shout-outs for maracas!

Before this month gets away from me (how fast did April fly by?!) we have some shout-outs to do . First, a BIG BELATED shout-out to Amelia who tied the knot way back March 11th - it just took FOREVER to get the photos but I LOVE how they turned out . Big congratulations to Tiffany who tied the knot in Cabos this past April 8th. Her coordinator, Leslie Bost, was a big pleasure to work with as well ... we took the Kate and the artist (Jazmine) did a different rendition of it and I love how it turned out . Shout-out to Tammy & Matt who said their "i dos" this April 13th at Dreams Tulum! Again, we just had a lucky month, because their coordinator, Aurora Garcia, was also amazing! Congrats are in order for Kirsten who wed her man this April 14th at our very own Dreams Puerto Vallarta. I even took this photo myself . Congratulations to Valerie who said "you betcha" (or we're guessing something there abouts this past April 16th at the Hilton in Cabos. And, again, her coordinator, Gabriela Cobian, was super nice . And lastly but certainly not least, a huge shout-out to Melissa who said her "i dos" in Cancun. I love how her maracas turned out ... very sweet bride! May is going to be an incredible, over-the-top busy month so I will blog when I can to try not to get behind with my shout-outs ... also the photos of Kim & Lanny's wedding are in and if I get a wee moment I will try to post! Good-bye April ... here we goooooo.......

Well, I realize that the months of April/May are not going to get any less busy so, without further ado, here are the shout-outs (a few most belated!) to some of our beautiful brides... Biggest belated shout-out goes to Paula who tied the knot all the way back March 8th! Our new resident artist, Jazmine, created this beautiful rendition of the ever-famous Kate... Congratulations to Cassandra who said her "i dos" this past March 12th at a new resort for us, the Gran Caribe Real Resort & Spa in Cancun . Congratulations as well to Menaka who said "yes" this past March 15th at Dreams Riviera Cancun - we're becoming fast friends with the wedding group over there . If you haven't noticed yet, there is quite the "floral" theme that went on this past month ... but wait ... there's more . Shout-out to Sherry Hurley who tied the knot right here in Vallarta, March 19th. Congratulations to Amanda who also tied the knot here in Vallarta, at the Decameron this past March 30th. Congrats to Kristin who said "absolutely" this April 2nd at the Dreams Riviera Cancun. Her invites were pretty cool and the maraca colors were based off of them... Shout-out to Kristy who also tied the knot at Dreams Riviera Cancun this past April 4th. She chose theJenn and I love the color combination.... And last, but not least, is a shout-out to Amy who said "i do" today at the Azul Sensatori in the Riviera Maya - her invites were pretty different too and I love how the maracas and the tags turned out (maracas by Omar and tags by Gaby). Coming-up ... wedding flowers, Kim & Lanny's Elemental Love Wedding and oodles more maraca shout-outs ... if I missed your favorite bride, it's because I'm waiting on photos!

riday, 11 March 2011 Ghadeer & Pancho's Modern Elegance Wedding! Ghadeer & Pancho tied the knot at Casa Serena this past February 12th. Their story is incredible, but I don't feel it's mine to tell - suffice it to say, to survive all they had to survive just to be together really made this wedding day amazing and incredibly special. When love is involved, it's amazing what you can accomplish. Villa: Casa Serena Photographer: Paulina Ulloa Staff Photographer: Soco Catering: ByB INSPIRATION BOARD This amazing couple were set to marry a year earlier in a different location but, days before the wedding, circumstances completely disrupted their wedding day. So, Ghadeer came with many things already in place - her colors, the bridesmaid dresses, her ideal decor - we just added a bit more color in order to add a bit of spicy Mexican flavor to a very elegant idea. THE CEREMONY The bride wasn't big into flowers, so we made all the florals very minimal but with a bit more emphasis on clean lines and colors. Her bouquet was made of baby's breath - normally not one of my favorites but, I have to admit, when it's the only thing in the arrangement there is a wild pretty to it. The bridesmaids carried small bouquets of purple statice flowers. We decorated the chuppah with baby's breath and curly willow and off-set the ceremony area with tree branches with a touch of flowers. I think it fit the scene and the couple perfectly . We supplied fans in case anyone needed them for the sun, but it was actually a fairly cool day - but they were still pretty ... THE COCKTAIL After the ceremony, everyone moved upstairs poolside to the sound of Mariachis playing up on the balcony. Ghadeer had chosen a really pretty fingerprint tree for guests to put their prints and sign their names. We had a small tequila bar with signs explaining the significance of each tequila. Lanterns dotted the pool - some with designs inspired by the groom's tie. The pillows were a mix of pattern and I pulled a line from the bride and groom's first dance that I thought was just beautiful and had them printed ... it said: "I'm Lucky I'm in Love with my Best Friend, Lucky to have been where I've been, Lucky to be coming home again." We had little signs pointing the way to the cocktail and, then, later to the reception area. THE RECEPTION After the cocktail, guests were invited up top of the villa - on the way they were greeted with an escort card tree - escort cards were made out of natural fiber paper in the shape of a leaf with their names printed on them. I really heart these cards! Upstairs the guests were greeted with large wooden square tables - centerpieces were branches and purple dendrobidium orchids along with smaller floral arrangements in purple and green and, of course, surrounded by candles. Each napkin was tied with a wire brown twine and another leaf - purple this time - with the guest name served as place cards. Table markers were larger purple printed leaves with the number printed on. The bride and groom had a sweetheart table out on the edge, and I heart heart how the entire set-up turned out. THE FOOD The bride and groom chose to do the reception food in a station style manner - there was a tacos de canasta station, a grilled fish station, a salad station, to name a few. The food was delicious! THE AFTER PARTY After the reception, guests were invited back down to the pool area, where lanterns were lit-up, a cigar roller was ready in the groom's very own "Denver Bronco's" cigar lounge area (his favorite team and part of their story). The dance floor, again, one of my favorites - was two big arches, with wrapped curly willow and orchids around it and twinkle lights and in the center we placed a pinata lamp - knowing the pinata was important to the bride, we created two - one that was beautiful and looked nice in the middle of the dance floor and, then, one that was similar but smaller to be broken by the guests. We had over 300+ candles going up the stairs, lanterns around the pool, candles in the lounge area - super pretty. And, of course, our famous maracas - this time based on the couple's wedding invitations . THE CAKE Memo pulled out the stops again and created a beautiful and yummy cake - lemon chiffon cake with raspberry filling - num! It truly was a beautiful evening and hopefully was a a beautiful beginning to a couple who really overcame incredible obstacles to get to this day - the day they were able to finally say their very own vows in the way they wanted to do and say and celebrate with friends and a family who loves them both. Next up - some more maraca shout-outs and oodles of weddings that I'm SUPER SUPER excited about...

The biggest, most belated shout-out goes to my super patient bride, Bonnie, and her new husband, Garry who tied the knot this past February 4th at the Palladium Hotel in Punta de Mita! They went with the palm trees in orange and white and Israel put his own special touch on it . Bonnie was also our runner-up "winwin" winner and Israel painted her a matching fan . Shout-out to Cassidy who said her "i dos" this past February 11th in Cabos. She sent us this beautiful talavera artwork and Omar did a heart heart job . Congratulations to Missy & Brian who were married February 19! Missy wanted an exact replica of a monogram we had done a unique design for in her colors of purple, white and silver. And another congrats to Melissa & Adam who were also married February 19 at the Westin. They chose the "heidi" in the same colors as the original and Jazmine rocked it! Up next ... Ghadeer & Pancho's wedding blog!

That's right - oodles of shout-outs to give and I need to do it quick like because I know we'll have another wedding blog next week full of this Saturday's photos . The biggest, hugest (is a word, if I say so ) shout-out goes to Amy who tied the knot waaaaaaaay back January 15th but I had to wait ages to get her photos . Congratulations to Claudia & John who said "yes yes yes" January 29th in Puerto Morelos with a little lacy romance going on - I really like this combination - was completely different from anything we've done before . Shout-out to Sharon & Bret (knot tied February 4 at Playa Fiesta) who has the funnest sense of humor - notice their initials on their coconuts - hahaha - cracks me up just looking at it again.... Congratulations to Lindsay who said "Absolutely!" Feb 5th at The Tides in Zihuatanejo. We tried several versions of these seashells before finding the one that was just right! And a warm shout-out to Valerie who said "i do" February 6th at the Excellence Playa Mujeres Resort and a big thank you to her hotel coordinator, Yamina Bermudez, who went way beyond the call of duty and helped us out with a minor shipping issue! Couple more shout-outs coming up my sweet brides and then it's time for Ghadeer & Pancho's wedding this Saturday! Just feels like the time is flying past .

I'm still cheering for yellow - but, so far, no takers .

Oh wow - where do I begin? I had the great pleasure of working with both Meredith and her mum as Meredith shared her and Spencer's vision and her mum wanted to put in little special touches which Meredith wanted, but didn't want to go over her mum's budget. The end result was an absolutely spectacular wedding - elegance, surprises, little touches and lots and lots (and lots!) of love! WHERE: Hacienda Camino del Mar CATERER: Andres from ByB CAKE: Memo from Charme PHOTOGRAPHER: The amazing Eric (who has yet to send me pictures, btw!) (all pictures down below are by our awesome staff photographer, Soco!) THE CEREMONY In order to accommodate older guests who might have a hard time getting around on the beach, the decision was made to keep everything up at this amazing, beautiful villa. I decided to flip the ceremony space and also utilize it for the reception area which meant, in Mishka terms, that we could WOWZER the area because, hello, we would be using it twice! Honestly, Meredith & Spencer are such a laid-back, easy going couple that their love for elegance and simple beauty did catch me a bit by surprise - but I absolutely loved everything they sent me and it didn't take me long to figure out what we needed to do! We spent hours stringing roses and carnations together and then hung them up above the ceremony area. We also hung them up almost entirely above the area next to the pool, as we were planning on putting the reception tables there after the ceremony. We placed gold chivari chairs off to the side, and the boys painted these really beautiful paisley maracas with their initials on them which we placed on the chairs, along with "shake me at the kiss" tags. In memory of Meredith's grandfather, we placed his photo along with a carnation garland and, of course, the cherry on top was a paper mache replica of their dog, Tim whom the couple has a penchant for dressing up in funny costumes and taking pictures of him . We also had some Skype action going on - for the groom's brother whose plane was not cooperating in getting him to the wedding and for Meredith's Grandmother who was unable to come - love Skype! The bride's bouquet was a mix of ranunculus, lisianthius and carnations, dotted with beautiful gold rimmed crystal accents in a gold accented holder. The groom had a ranunculus and a carnation with a gold crystal accent. THE COCKTAIL After the ceremony, we moved everyone into the casita for cocktails and appetizers. Cocktail tables were draped in shades of turquoise blue chiffon and adorned with a small carnation arrangement. We had a small lounge with pillows in blue, gold and a few lace pillows. I absolutely heart heart these colors. We found-out that the local University of Hawaii pub (where the couple are going/ have gone to school) was named Manoa and some awesome family member took a picture and sent it to us so we could replicate it but in the bride and groom's colors and named our cocktail/dance area after it . THE RECEPTION Back to the main Hacienda we go where we've set up round tables with elegant turquoise blue overlays with small gold crystal accents on the corners. Large white and cream carnation arrangements in the middle were surrounded by gold painted candle vases. Gold napkins stand upright tied with the place cards which hid various hot salsa bottles, a nod to Spencer's love of all things hot and spicy! Strung twinkle lights only complete this romantic look, along with the floating multi-colored lanterns floating in the pool. THE DANCE FLOOR I know I know - I keep heart hearting my dance floors but I can't help it! This was simply "wow" with over 30 gold lanterns with pillar candles and hanging glass turquoise and white hearts floating over the area - seriously romance floating everywhere! Judy (mer's mum!) surprised the couple with an amazing live Cuban band and a DJ for later in the evening. THE CAKE And, of course, what event would be complete without an amazing Memo cake! We had to bring everyone to the roof because Judy had one more super awesome surprised for the couple - fireworks! Seriously, I WANTED it to happen but could not have planned the timing better - as soon as they cut the cake, off went the fireworks - heart heart heart all over the place (and I was having a heart attack, slightly worried that it wouldn't happen JUST LIKE THAT - woohoo!). They ordered a different flavor from any cake we've had before - a vanilla and pineapple cake and it must have been good because they ate it all up! Absolutely AMAZING way to start off this New Year and working with this special couple (and their daughter - the cutest flower girl ever!) and the love they shared for each other and their family - well, just heart heart hearts! Next up - a slightly belated shout-out to a beautiful maraca bride and some new brides who have said their "i dos" this past weekend .... then, in a few weeks, we have Ghadeer & Pancho's nuptials at the beautiful Casa Serena!!

Sorry guys - we've been so busy I didn't see your replies . Just PM me and I'll answer all your questions - I mostly just post the blogs so people can see what other brides are doing and how they are doing it . Nobody did respond to who made the invites ... I think it could be Sarah, but I'm not positive .

I have a couple of shout-outs to make and then guess what? Meredith & Spencer's pictures are in! First congratulations goes to Carolina who tied the knot in Las Caletas this past January 15th - She chose to do half based off her STD and half off her monogram - I love both but will admit a tad partiality to the Mexico based design - it's just .... awesome! And our second shout-out goes to Sabrina who said her "i dos" this January 19th at the Grand Palladium in the Riviera Maya. She based her maracas off the Amy, but in her colors of purple and green and cream - I loved the original but really did like this different take. Up next ... Meredith & Spencer's design details!

Our very first shout-out for 2011 goes to Amy Youngblood who tied the knot with her groom at Las Caletas this past January 2. I love the maracas Omar came-up with to go along with a graphic that she sent us... Big congratulations to Lucy who said her "i dos" in Sayulita January 8th ... she wanted the Megan designbut with an orchid flower instead and Israel created these beautiful renditions .... Shout-out to Courtney who also said "yes" on the same day but at the Secrets Maroma Beach resort in Cancun. These maracas are actually the very first painted by the newest member of our team, Jazmine who is also, yes, part of our family . I think she did a fantastic job! And last but not least, Congratulations to Mattie & Julian who entered nuptial bliss on January 8th.well, honestly I'm not sure where - we dropped the maracas off at Dreams PV, however . And, yes, my heart heart goes to these maracas - I think they are just truly unique and different from anything we've done before and the artist (Antonio) really did a beautiful job. Even if he is my husband . Coming-up, Meredith & Spencer's wedding blog, some more shout-outs from this weekend and I will also be posting cut-off dates for spring maraca orders (mostly will affect April/May brides ... OH and, yes, announcing the winners of the WINWIN contest!

Well, I got the professional photographs back from both Jillian, who was the bride's photographer (all photos without a logo on them were taken by Jillian), and our staff photographer Soko and WOWZERS are they awesome! Without further ado, here we go!.... Where: Don Pedro's Palapa, Sayulita When: Thanksgiving! 2010 Coordinator: The awesome duo Kerry and Enrique from Sayulita Wave Photographer: Uber-cool Jillian Mitchell Inspiration Board Jenn came to us blooming with ideas and rearing to go - and I have over 300 photos to prove it . I loved the challenge - to create a Vintage garden feel wedding BUT with a Mexican touch to it ... the challenge in a third-world country is that we don't have hardly anything you could call "vintage", as we use every single thing up until the last drop is squeezed out . So, we had to recreate the feel of Mexican vintage and my team did a holy cow amazing job! The Bouquets & Bouts We were working with a color palette of turquoise, coral and berry ... I wanted the flowers to look neat and tidy but also an upscale version of having just picked them from the garden . I found Jenn's bouquet accent piece in the States this past summer and fell in love with it and had to have it to complete the look along with the bout pin I found for Kent - I just think those little accents really make the flowers just pop. For the bridesmaids - I knew their dresses were coral and I wanted to bring in a berry color palette without it being too bright and found out that I could order these amazing purple/silver grey roses which I think really accents the berry roses ... I honestly love them against the bridesmaid dresses . The Ceremony & Cocktail Lounge Don Pedro's Palapa is a rather large space but we needed to combine the ceremony area and have it also work as a cocktail area - also I thought it would help to set the mood a bit more if we did the seating more of a garden-like, lounge feel, as opposed to doing the standard rows of chairs ... so, we combined the two areas! I also realized that we needed to bring in some plants to make the area a bit more ... well, like a garden! We twisted flowers into the gazebo and placed two large trees to hang overhead with bouganvilla trees in beautiful colors of coral and berry dotting the landscape behind. Right before the bride was to walk down we created an aisle with rose petals - I knew it would be pretty but seriously the colors up against the grass just popped and blew me away! The pillow fabric we got for the pillows might look like it was bought at the same store but it actually wasn't - heart heart all over the place! We had two lamp posts to light-up the area later in the evening and turquoise talavera pots filled with berry and coral flowers, surrounded by turquoise and plain mason jars filled with candles. Of course, one of my favorite accent pieces for this area was the vintage looking coke and corona wooden boxes that we made - with a cooler inside! Bright Mexican bird cages were filled to the brim with either flowers or candles and I'm hard pressed to say which one I liked better .... and, of course, cannot forget the metal bird votive candle holder with the beautiful blue turquoise vases. Escort Cards I found all these vintage looking knobs and thought "wouldn't that look amazing on a portrait frame type structure?" (or, okay, something along those lines ... the cards took me forever to do and I discovered that embossing is a wee bit hard on the palms, but absolutely heart heart the final look. Reception We built milk boxes and painted them with the names of dairy companies we have here in Mexico to give the tables a very vintage, yet mexican, feel. I filled them with bright flowers in corals and berry tones and we created table markers that looked like old advertising signs for products that we have here in mexico ... other than Guinness - the couple had a sweet story about Guinness in how they met so we had to include that too, of course! Unfortunately, neither photographer got a good shot of the table runner which was this beautiful white embroidered floral fabric on top of a coral chiffon. But aren't these napkins amazing or what? When I saw the fabric I knew they were a must! We tied the silverware together with ribbon and attached the place cards which had a little poem the bride had seen and really liked. Mason jars filled with candles (a few turquoise, a few plain) also dotted the tables, between the centerpieces. We created little vintage "mr. and mrs." signs to hang on the back of the bride and groom's chair and, honestly, I just heart heart everything about this entire wedding . The Dance Floor and Cake If I tell you where I got the idea for the dance floor you have to promise not to laugh ... my daughter was enthralled for a while with Disney's Princess and the Frog and there's a scene in there ... anyway, the point is, the dance floor had mason jars which we painted with glass paint and it was absolutely beautiful and romantic and heart hearts floating everywhere at night. I wanted the cake to be reminiscent of the "long ago" but in a garden - well, I knew it needed to be a bit smaller - I found this wonderful glass cake stand and Memo recreated a lace work pattern and, of course, the cake was yummy yummy yummy - they had a vanilla with kiwi, strawberry and peach filling and this to die for chocolate cake with almost like a chocolate truffle filling - YUM! And, of course, can't forget the maracas which were passed out during the dancing - we needed something with a bit of a flower to it but not something too "girly" so Kent and his boys wouldn't mind shaking them around - I think our guys hit on a good combination . Photo Booth This was, by far, one of the most creative, off-the-wall ideas I've had in a while ... I wanted the boys to make a gazebo like structure that we could hang a two person swing from later - I mean, who doesn't love a swing? And they did it! We also had hand-painted wooden signs to add to the festivities. After the ceremony, the photo booth sign went up, the polaroid came out and a lot of fun was had (especially as the night wore on and guests donned props provided by Jillian), let me tell you - well, I don't have to tell you - you can see for yourself! I knew this blog was going to take me a while to do but had to get cracking on it because Soko just told me that Meredith & Spencer's wedding photos are on their way and I have some shout-outs to give to early 2011 brides - also don't forget to enter the WINWIN drawing which is this Saturday, Jan 15th! .... Jenn & Kent's wedding was a beautiful way to end the fall portion of our season and we thank them both for being so creative and inspirational!

I meant to get this up before the New Year but we had technical difficulties related to the photo . Big Congratulations to Sara who tied the knot somewhere up north and used these fans as gifts to her bridesmaids . She also ended-up with some palm tree fans which also turned out pretty - don't ask me how that happened . Next week without fail I will be posting pictures of Jenn & Kent's wedding which took place in Sayulita Thanksgiving 2010 and right after that will be Meredith & Spencer's wedding which just took place this past Tuesday and was absolutely magical! Happy New Year my lovely brides - thank you for sharing your wonderful spirits with me and I look forward to ending this 2010/2011 season with a flourish! And don't forget to enter the WINWIN contest - the drawing is January 15th!

It's hard NOT to land on a holiday here - we have oodles of them .